SACRED TREES
The subject of tree-worship is a vast one, as anyone may gather who will
read the _Golden Bough_. Fortunately for my readers it is not necessary
to discuss the whole or even any great part of it in connection with the
inquiry which now concerns us. I may say that only rarely is the old
tree-worship considered with its concomitant of temple-worship, so that
I now have to bring together information widely separated because the
connection which I have to show was intimate has not been enlarged upon;
indeed, in many cases it has not been suspected.
There is another limitation of the inquiry. We have only to deal chiefly
with those plants and trees recorded as worshipped at the chief festival
times of the year, which have already been marked out for us by the fire
ceremonials. These fires were like the chronofer installed in modern
days at the General Post Office, their practical function being to give
the time; they announced the beginning of a new season.
In Chapter IV. I referred to the association of Mistletoe with the
Solstitial worship. When we deal with the May year we meet constantly
with references to the Rowan and the Hawthorn in the folklore connected
with it. We seem in presence, then, not only of tree cult generally, but
of sacred trees special to each of the two worships we have been
considering. I propose now, therefore, to bring together some of the
information to be gathered from a very cursory reference to the vast
literature which exists on the subject.
In the first instance I begged my friend, Professor Bayley Balfour,
Keeper of the King’s Garden at Edinburgh, to give me some particulars of
the Rowan Tree, which I imagined (1) to have been chosen on account of
its flowers being prominent about May Day (Beltane) and its berries in
early November (Hallowe’en), and (2) to have a different habitat from
the Mistletoe. I have to thank my friend for much valuable information.
The Rowan Tree, called also the Mountain Ash (_Pyrus Aucuparia_), seems
to grow pretty freely all over the _Northern_ parts of Europe. Professor
Balfour tells me: “Rowan is essentially a Northern plant--an immigrant
to Europe from N.W. Asia--and now is spread all over North and Central
Europe in abundance, with only some ‘feelers’ passing south into the
Mediterranean Basin. It does not go south of Cappadocia in Asia Minor.
It does not reach Greece. In Italy it occurs on the Eastern Apennines,
and also in N.E. Sicily. In Spain it runs over the higher regions in the
N. and into the centre, passing just into Portugal. Its occurrence in
Madeira is not certainly established as a natural phenomenon; perhaps it
is only introduced there. In all these Southern outruns the tree cannot
be said to have any dominance, and its area and abundance are infinitely
less than in the North. Scandinavia is one of its best homes. Everywhere
it is found right north to 71°, there becoming a bush only, but yet
ripening seed. It reaches Iceland, where trees of some size occur. All
over Great Britain and Ireland it is generally spread. You may certainly
say there is much in Norway, and there is equally certainly less, even
little, in Italy.”
In Pratt’s _Flowering Plants of Great Britain_ (vol. 2, p. 260) it is
stated, “The flowers, which grow in dense clusters, and are
greenish-white, appear in May.... In autumn, however, the tree is more
beautiful than in summer, for at that season the rich cluster of red
fruits gleams among the foliage, each berry having the form of a tiny
apple, and containing a little core and seeds within.”
At Christiania the mean of ten years’ flowering is given by Professor
Schübeler[41] as--first flowers, June 19; general flowering, June 30.
This, then, is later than in Britain. On high grounds the fruit is
conspicuous here on November 1; on lower levels the birds attack it and
reduce its striking appearance before that date.
Associated with the Rowan in the folklore connected with temple worship
is the Hawthorn, Whitethorn or “May” (_Crategus oxyocantha_), which also
flowers at the beginning of May, while its berries or “haws,” like those
of the Rowan, are conspicuous in November. We see, then, that there is a
most obvious reason in this for the association of the two trees.
According to Rhys,[42] the English name appears to be of Scandinavian
origin, the Old Norse being _reynir_, Danish _rönne_, Swedish _rönn_;
and the old Norsemen treated the tree as holy and sacred to Thor.
These two trees interest us from three points of view. We find them
connected with:--
1. May and November celebrations.
2. Superstitions concerning witchcraft, &c.
3. Holy wells.
In this chapter I shall deal with the two former.
I. _The May Celebrations._
Seeing that the year beginning in May was established because that month
really opened the vegetation year, it is little to be wondered at that
among the chief features of New Year’s Day was what we may term a flower
worship; it is probable that we are here dealing with the sacred-tree
side of the general festival at all the monuments erected in connection
with the May year worship. The old traditions have lingered longest
around the things we have still with us, the trees and flowers; and it
is in connection with this side of the worship that most information is
available. From the facts I have already stated, for Britain the Rowan
and Hawthorn were most naturally selected as the typical forms.[43]
Many poets have written of this festival[44]: Chaucer, Shakspere,
Milton, Bourne, Herrick and others. Chaucer writes:
“Fourth goeth al the Court both most and lest,
To fetch the flouris fresh and branche and blome,”
when not the courtiers only, but lowliest of men and maidens sallied
forth
“To do observaunce to a morn of May.”
There is a vast literature connected with May Day celebrations, among it
references to Celtic customs, and I may add that, besides May Day,
August, November and February had their flower festivals also. I shall,
however, deal chiefly with May in this book to keep it within bounds.
May Day in Manx was termed _Shenn Laa Boaldyn_; it is the _belltaine_ of
Cormac’s _Glossary_, the Scotch Gaelic equivalent of which is
_bealtuinn_.
The traditions and customs connected with May Day in Great Britain have
survived longest in the West of England; even now, as will be seen by
the account of recent celebrations at Helston in Cornwall, given below,
they are still continued.
Altogether the customs, ancient and modern, of which the flower worship
formed a part, may be summed up as follows:--
1. Lighting of bonfires,[45] and, in the evening, houses illuminated
with candles, torches carried about, and fireballs played with.
2. Man and beast passed through the fire or between two fires.
3. Going out at daybreak to gather Whitethorn or May (Sycamore in
Cornwall), and making whistles of the branches for the May-music and
merry-making. Blowing of tin horns at daybreak by boys, and from money
received getting breakfast at a farmhouse.
4. Flower-bedecked girls dance round a Maypole, and one chosen as
“Queen of the May.”
5. In Cornwall the custom prevailed till lately of going out with
buckets or any available vessels full of water and thoroughly wetting
anyone who was not wearing a piece of May.
6. The “Furry Dance” (in Cornwall), which consists in dancing through
the town and also through as many houses as desired. If resistance is
offered it is permitted to break open the door, and no penalty can be
imposed.
7. Sacrifices made (Isle of Man) at a very ancient date, and probably
human ones still earlier (Scotland).
8. Special worship at holy wells.
Flowers are public property on Flora Day, and this custom of dancing
through the _houses_ is supposed to have originated probably for the
purpose of picking the flowers in the gardens behind.
The following is a short abstract of a very interesting account given in
_The Western Weekly News_, May 13th, 1905, of the “Flora Day” at
Helston, Cornwall, which took place this year. It gives us an idea of
former festivals which are so quickly dying out:--
The Furry Dance is always the feature of the day. The first part took
place at seven o’clock in the morning, at which hour two couples started
out and danced through the streets and through some houses of residents.
The great dance was at noon, and those taking part in it assembled in
the Corn Exchange.
When all was ready the whole company, headed by a band playing the old
Furry Dance, started out and danced through the town and through many
houses.
The rest of the day was given over to a Horse Show and to much
merry-making. Excursions had been run from all parts.
II. _The Rowan Tree and Witchcraft._
There is little doubt that in the constant association of the Rowan with
the May worship and the holy wells which were adjacent to the stone
circles where the worship was conducted, we find the reason of the
selection of the wood of the Rowan Tree as an antidote to all the ills
which witchcraft was supposed to bring about. Rhys tells us that “The
tree has also the old names of Quicken-tree, Roddon, and Witchen-tree.”
To quote again from Pratt (_op. cit._ vol. 2, p. 261): “The old notion
that the Mountain Ash, or Rowan Tree, as it is called in the North, was
efficacious against witchcraft and the evil eye, still prevails in the
North of England and the Scottish Highlands. Pennant remarks, in his
_Tour of Scotland_, that the farmers carefully preserve their cattle
against witchcraft by placing branches of Honeysuckle and Mountain Ash
in their cowhouses on the 2nd of May. The milkmaid in Westmorland may
often be seen, even now, with a branch of this tree either in her hand
or tied to her milking-pail, from a similar superstition; and in earlier
days crosses cut out of its wood were worn about the person. In an old
song called “Laidley Wood,” in the _Northumberland Garland_, we find a
reference to this:
“The spells were vain, the hag return’d
To the Queen in sorrowful mood,
Crying, that witches have no power
Where there is Rown-tree wood.”
Rhys, referring to May Day customs in the Isle of Man, writes[46]: “This
was a day when systematic efforts were made to protect man and beast
against elves and witches; for it was then that people carried crosses
of rowan in their hats and placed may-flowers over the tops of their
doors and elsewhere as preservatives against all malignant influences.
With the same object in view, crosses of rowan were likewise fastened to
the tails of the cattle, small crosses which had to be made without the
help of a knife.”
In connection with this last reference, Rhys quotes a passage showing
that a similar thing is done in Wales on May Eve.[47] “Another bad
papistic habit which prevails among some Welsh people is that of placing
some of the wood of the rowan-tree (_coed cerdin_ or criafol) in their
corn lands (_ttafyrieu_) and their fields on May-eve (_Nos Glamau_) with
the idea that such a custom brings a blessing on their fields, a
proceeding which would better become atheists and pagans than
Christians.”
Rhys also tells us that in Lincolnshire,[48] “a twig of the rowan-tree,
or wicken, as it is called, was effective against all evil things,
including witches. It is useful in many ways to guard the welfare of the
household, and to preserve both the live stock and the crops; while
placed on the churn it prevents any malign influence from retarding the
coming of the butter.”
We also read (p. 358): “Not only the Celts, but some also of the
Teutons, have been in the habit of attaching great importance to the
rowan or roan tree, and regarding it as a preservative against the
malignant influence of witches and all things uncanny.... Moreover, the
Swede of modern times believes the rowan a safeguard against witchcraft,
and likes to have on board his ship something or other made of its wood,
to protect him against tempests and the demons of the water world.”
In the Hibbert Lectures, 1886, we have another interesting reference to
this tree. Rhys first relates an old Irish fairy story, the scene of
which is supposed to have been “on the plain near the Lake of Lein of
the Crooked Teeth, that is to say, the Lake of Killarney.” In it we are
told that the scarlet quicken-berries were first brought from the “Land
of Promise,” that one was accidentally dropped and took root, and “from
the berry there grew up a tree which had the virtues of the quicken-tree
growing in fairy-land, for all the berries on it had many virtues.” Then
we learn (page 358) that these berries “formed part of the sustenance of
the gods, according to Goidelic notions; and the description which has
been quoted of the berries makes them a sort of Celtic counterpart to
the soma-plant of Hindu mythology.”
This suggests that at the November Celebration a decoction or brew of
Rowan berries was used for curative or superstitious purposes.
* * * * *
I have thought it desirable to enter at some length into the use of the
Rowan as a protection against witchcraft and as the basis of a brew used
for different purposes, because the Mistletoe has been dealt with in
exactly the same manner; indeed, it was to the later Solstitial worship
what the Rowan and Maythorn were to the earlier May worship.
Mr. Frazer has collected in his _Golden Bough_[49] much information
bearing on these points.
In Sweden, on Midsummer Eve, Mistletoe is sought after, the people
“believing it to be, in a high degree, possessed of mystic qualities;
and that if a sprig of it be attached to the ceiling of the
dwelling-house, the horse’s stall, or the cow’s crib, the ‘Troll’ will
then be powerless to injure either man or beast.” The Oak Mistletoe, we
are told, is “held in the highest repute in Sweden, and is commonly seen
in farmhouses hanging from the ceiling to protect the dwelling from all
harm, but especially from fire; and persons afflicted with the falling
sickness think they can ward off attacks of the malady by carrying about
with them a knife which has a handle of Oak Mistletoe.
“A Swedish remedy for other complaints is to hang a sprig of Mistletoe
round the sufferer’s neck, or to make him wear on his finger a ring made
from the plant.”
It would appear from Mr. Frazer’s inquiries that the Mistletoe was _en
évidence_ at both the summer and winter solstice--precisely as the Rowan
and Hawthorn were associated with the May and November festivals.
He writes:--
“The sacred mistletoe may have acquired, in the eyes of the Druids, a
double portion of its mystic qualities at the solstice in June, and
accordingly they may have regularly cut it with solemn ceremony on
Midsummer Eve. The conjecture is confirmed when we find it to be still a
rule of folklore that the mistletoe should be cut on this day. Further,
the peasants of Piedmont and Lombardy still go out on Midsummer-morning
to search the oak-leaves for the ‘oil of St. John,’ which is supposed to
heal all wounds made with cutting instruments. Originally, perhaps, the
‘oil of St. John’ was simply the mistletoe, or a decoction made from it.
For in Holstein the mistletoe, especially oak-mistletoe, is still
regarded as a panacea for green wounds; and if, as is alleged,
‘all-healer’ is the name of the plant in the modern Celtic speech of
Brittany, Wales, Ireland and Scotland, this can be nothing but a
survival of the name by which, as we have seen, the Druids addressed the
oak, or rather, perhaps, the mistletoe. At Lacaune, in France, the old
Druidical belief in the mistletoe as an antidote to all poisons still
survives among the people; they apply the plant to the stomach of the
sufferer, or give him a decoction of it to drink.”
If we attempt to collate the different festivals with the vegetation
most striking or abundant at each, in different countries naturally
possessing different floras, a great variety of plants and trees has to
be considered. It is probable that the Rowan-tree was chiefly taken here
as the representative of the ash in more southern and eastern lands, and
the ash indeed did not always take second rank, especially in the
worship connected with wells, as we shall see. Grimm[50] calls the ash
“a world tree which links heaven, earth and hell together; of all trees
the greatest and holiest.”
In the same way at the later established Vernal Equinox festival, the
palm which grows in lower latitudes was replaced here by the willow.
Coles, in his _Adam in Eden_,[51] writes: “The willow blossoms come
forth before any leaves appear, and are in their most flourishing state
usually before Easter, divers gathering them to deck up their houses on
Palm Sunday, and therefore the said flowers are called palme.” Willows
are still used to deck churches at this time.
As in the case of the Rowan, the willow (or palm) was a protection
against witchcraft; small crosses and palm were carried about in the
purses and placed upon doors. These crosses had to be made on Palm
Sunday out of the wood used in the church. Sometimes box replaced the
willow.
We are driven to the conclusion that practices connected with magic, the
precursor of the later “witchcraft,” were associated with the festivals
now in question, and that the products of the vegetable world at the
different seasons were utilized for these purposes.
The putting on of a special garb by the vegetable world at each season
in turn would be one of the first things to be manifested, and the close
association of it with the stars and the sun in their yearly course
would cause the representatives of it to be worshipped together with
them, and it would appear from the records that the astronomer priests
did not neglect those magical arts which were practised by man in the
early stages of civilisation.
Indeed, these magical practices seem to have taken such firm root that
it was difficult to get rid of them even in much later times. Newton[52]
writes: “I once knew a foolish cock-brained priest which ministered to a
certaine young man the ashes of boxe, being (forsooth) hallowed on Palme
Sunday, according to the superstitious order and doctrine of the Romish
Church, which ashes he mingled with their unholie holie water using to
the same a kind of... exorcisme; which... medicine (as he persuaded the
standers by) had vertue to drive away any ague.”
Among the virtues attributed to the May thorn was that of preserving the
beauty of those maidens who at daybreak on May morning each year would
wash themselves in hawthorn dew. As late as 1515 it was recorded that
Catherine of Aragon, accompanied by twenty-five of her ladies, sallied
out on May morning for this purpose.
[41] Schübeler, _Die Pflanzenwelt Norwegens_, Christiania, 1873-75, p.
439.
[42] _Hibbert Lectures_, p. 358.
[43] The Rowan had to be cut on Ascension Day, _Golden Bough_, III, p.
448.
[44] Pratt’s _British Flowering Plants_, vol. 2, p. 266.
[45] The word bonfire, according to the _Century Dictionary_, comes from
the “early modern English, boonfire, bondfire, bounfire, later burnfire;
Scotch, banefire; the earliest known instance is banefyre. ‘ignis
ossium,’ in the _Catholicon Anglicum_, A.D. 1483; from bone (Scotch,
bane, Middle English, bone, bon, bane, &c.) + fire.”
Hence the word seems formerly to have meant a fire of bones; a funeral
pile, a pyre. And it has gradually developed into a fire out in the
open, whatever its object.
[46] _Celtic Folklore_, vol. i. p. 308.
[47] Vol. ii. p. 691.
[48] _Celtic Folklore_, vol. i. p. 325.
[49] Second Edition, vol. iii. pp. 343 _et seq._
[50] _Teutonic Mythology_, Stallybrass’s translation, ii. 796.
[51] Quoted by Hazlitt under Palm Sunday.
[52] _Herbal for the Bible_, p. 207.